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  Novice or Expert?

  Consider where your employees are on the learning curve in the area you’re giving feedback. If they are novices, they will need a blend of positive feedback with critical feedback in order to stay motivated. They need to know specifically which areas of their job they have mastery over (or are reasonably good at) and in which areas they should fine tune their approach or sharpen their skills. If they are new, whether to the organization, the role, or the specific area of feedback you are sharing, you will help to encourage and motivate them by sharing the positive feedback with the constructive feedback.

  On the other hand, if they have amassed a certain amount of expertise, they will have less need for positive feedback. Constructive feedback will be sufficient to motivate them to improve their performance. Note that these are generalities and your individual employees may differ somewhat from the norm. Note also that there is not a single employee who does not need any positive feedback. We all like to hear that we are doing our jobs well, so don’t skip the positive feedback entirely because you think the person doesn’t need it. Note too, that this is different from praising someone for simply doing their job, like showing up on time. If there really is no good news and no demonstrated mastery of new skills during the past year, it is time for closer supervision and a corresponding improvement plan.

  If you find yourself with direct reports who have reported to you for a long period of time, you may feel like there is not much left to say. Again, that falls under the category of “not enough information,” one of the most frustrating things that employees encounter during the review process. In that case, take the time to think more critically about the employee’s performance. This isn’t to say that you should be overly critical about things that are insignificant. Rather, think longer term about the person’s career track. Are there any skills they can begin to develop now to position them for the next step in their career?

  I coached one senior executive on this who had had the same direct report for the past 15 years. The review was largely the same, year in and year out. There was no chance of his direct report moving up in the ranks because of her level of education and the size of the organization. During the performance evaluation, the senior leader addressed that directly and they talked about whether the direct report wanted to remain at that level for the rest of her career or if she would like the senior leader to coach her on getting the education and skills needed to move to a higher level, presuming she would find that next role elsewhere. Regardless of the specifics of the situation, if you’ve given the employee countless performance reviews over the years, find something new to say.

  DEALING WITH DEFENSIVENESS

  Sometimes, employees may get defensive during a performance review despite your best efforts. Here are a few techniques to use to recover the conversation and restore a sense of emotional safety for the employee.

  Contrast

  When an employee misinterprets feedback, use contrast to clarify. When using contrast, state what you think the employee heard, followed by what you wanted them to hear. It sounds something like this, “I don’t want you to think that you aren’t able to effectively work with clients. Certainly, you are. I do want you to understand that if you want to be promoted to the client advisor role, you will need to communicate more effectively with clients. That means …”

  Another way to use contrast is to specifically state what you didn’t mean and what you did mean. For example, “I didn’t mean to imply that you aren’t creative. What I meant was that you need stronger prose in the creative briefing documents for your creative ideas to come across well.”

  Here are a couple of templates for structuring contrast:

  “I don’t want you to …. I do want you to”

  “I didn’t mean to imply that ….; what I meant was”

  What I See

  Body language is often a better indicator of people’s moods and attitudes than their words are. Human beings are much more likely to have their nonverbal communication give them away than their words. If the employee’s words don’t match their body language, including their expressions, posture, or tone, use this mirroring technique to share that inconsistency. To use the “What I See” technique, repeat what the person said (a summary or paraphrase is sufficient) and then describe the nonverbal behavior you are observing that carries a different meaning than what they’ve said. It might be something that you visually observe or it may be something you audibly pick up on. For example, “You say you are not upset and that you understand what I’d like you to do differently next time, but the tone of your voice sounds upset.” Another common inconsistency is when an employee utters that something is “Fine” but by the tone of their voice, it is clearly anything but fine. This is another good time to use the “What I See” technique: “You say you are fine with the decision but your arms are crossed and your tone of voice suggests you are not in agreement.”

  Paraphrase

  Rephrasing an employee’s sentiment, sharing it back with them, and asking if you’ve correctly understood is an excellent way to show that you, in fact, do understand their position. It is also an effective technique in reducing defensiveness. The brain cannot easily hold agreement and defensiveness simultaneously. If you’ve paraphrased what the employee shared and then asked if you’ve gotten it correct, the employee will become less defensive because they are agreeing with you. It sounds like this, “Let me see if I understand. You’re dissatisfied with the rating on written communication skills and you don’t feel that the rating you received accurately reflects your performance this year. Is that right?” If you haven’t understood them correctly, paraphrasing and double checking your comprehension is a great way to clear up any misunderstandings that you may have.

  Priming

  If you feel as if you are stuck or getting nowhere, try priming. Much like priming a pump, where you add water to get water, you put forward a hypothesis about what the employee might be thinking or what their reaction might be. It sounds like this, “Are you thinking that …[insert what you think they might be concerned about]?” or “Are you thinking that maybe I don’t care about …?” Priming is designed to get the employee talking. If they are shut down and uncommunicative, it is difficult if not impossible to develop shared meaning and understanding.

  Taking a Break

  If all else fails, and your efforts to bring the person back from their defensive state have not worked, take a break and resume the conversation at a later time. Be sure to do this in a manner in which you are not making the person even more defensive and that allows them to save face, as discussed earlier in this chapter.

  Concluding the Review Meeting

  As the performance evaluation conversation comes to an end, there are three things to be mindful of. First, make sure your employee has an action plan for addressing their opportunities for improvement. Without an action plan, the discussion has simply been an uncomfortable conversation that will not yield any behavior change. Second, create a timeline in which you would like to see progress. This is ideally driven by the employee so that the timeline and expected behavior changes are realistic for them. Finally, thank the employee for their professionalism, especially if you’ve shared feedback that was difficult for them to hear.

  As you prepare for performance review evaluations and the difficult conversations that inevitably are part of the process, review the checklist for managers at the end of the chapter. It includes many good reminders for what to do before, during, and after the performance evaluation.

  CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK

  The annual performance review should be, as Sophie’s review with her former manager Carlos was in earlier years, pro forma. If employees are receiving regular feedback, both positive and constructive, throughout the year, there should be no surprises at an end-of-year conversation. Even the challenging topics will not be as uncomfortable to discuss since they’ve been brought up before.

  Once your organization
has achieved a state of being open and receptive to continuous feedback, difficult conversations will not be so, well, difficult.

  Creating a culture of continuous feedback is straightforward but it is not necessarily easy. It will take dedication and work. It is best accomplished not merely as top-down effort, but rather with support and involvement at all levels of the organization. There are five critical things that need to shift for an organization to create a culture of continuous improvement:

  Employees and leaders alike will need to become more responsive, willing to address issues immediately as they arise.

  They will need to be direct, which for many organizations means rooting out a culture of passive-aggressive behavior.

  Feedback must flow in all directions, not just downward.

  There must be a balance between positive and negative feedback within the organization; a culture of solely negative feedback is demoralizing.

  The organization must have a growth mindset that is oriented toward improvement and believes it is possible.

  Let’s take a look at each of these in greater detail.

  Responsive

  The days of saving feedback for the annual performance evaluation are long gone, especially if you want to have a culture that thrives on continuous improvement. Employees and supervisors alike need to be ready to give feedback–positive or negative-in the moment the behavior occurs, or as soon thereafter as is feasible. This is particularly effective when sharing constructive feedback. The details of the event or behavior you are giving feedback on are far crisper, both for you and for the employee receiving the feedback.

  When you are able to pull someone aside and have a private conversation with them immediately, it also impresses upon them the importance of the feedback. The more time that passes before the issue is addressed, the less perceived importance the issue has and accordingly, the less impact your feedback will have. If changing behavior is your goal, place the feedback as close in time to the event as possible. This is not limited to constructive feedback. If you want to reinforce positive behavior, sharing it as quickly as possible will also ensure it has the most benefit.

  Giving feedback in the moment also builds trust. It demonstrates that you have the person’s professional development in mind and that you want to see them working toward fulfilling on the organization’s mission to the best of their ability. It also shows your respect for the person. Not only are you not saving it up for their performance review, you hold them in high enough esteem to know they can handle the feedback and that they will use it wisely. Again, this goes for both positive and constructive feedback.

  Direct

  To provide effective feedback efficiently and effectively in the moment, you will need to be direct. Using ambiguous language or passive-aggressive communication will not yield the results you want. Use the techniques outlined in Chapter 10 to eradicate your own passive-aggressive tendencies if you have them and to address passive-aggressive behavior when your colleagues are using it.

  Being direct also means being specific. As we’ve discussed above, ambiguous or unclear feedback is ineffective at changing behavior. In fact, it can do more harm than good. When you dance around or hint at feedback, especially constructive feedback, but do not share it openly, your employee or colleague will sense to some degree that there is an issue that you’d like to address. If you are not direct about it, there will be an intimation of distrust at some level, even a minor level. They will know you have something to say but will not be sure of your motives for not saying it, thus inviting suspicion and distrust.

  If you aren’t getting feedback, don’t wait. Instead, request it and direct it. Make specific requests from those you wish to receive feedback from. Direct them toward the particular area you are hoping to improve upon. Instead of asking, “Do you have any feedback for me?” ask, “What’s one thing you see where I could be more efficient when conducting an audit?” Be ready to direct the conversation further, especially if you aren’t getting feedback in the area you requested. You might say, “I appreciate your comments on my internal communication, however, I’m more interested in how I can be more efficient when performing an audit with a client, especially during our peak season.”

  Multidirectional

  In order to become an organization that supports continuous improvement through feedback, the feedback must flow in all directions, not just top down. It must be the norm for colleagues to share feedback with one another laterally. Likewise, managers and supervisors must be open and receptive when receiving feedback from those who report to them. This needs to be the case from the to the top of the organization to the most junior level supervisors.

  Often it is the most junior level supervisors who have the most difficult time receiving feedback from those who report to them, especially when it is constructive. More senior managers and executives on the other hand, have had an entire career’s worth of experience handling feedback and are more accustomed to it. Further, the closer to the top of the organization one gets, the more one is vested in how the organization as a whole is doing, since that is considered a direct reflection of a senior leader’s performance (not to mention their compensation package is typically tied to the company’s performance). More junior level managers and supervisors, on the other hand, typically have their own interests in mind and want to know they are doing well as a supervisor, especially if they are new to the job. They haven’t had as much experience receiving feedback in their role and may be predisposed to getting defensive as a result.

  The best way to encourage feedback in all directions-down, up and lateral-is for senior leaders to demonstrate their receptivity to feedback and their willingness to act on it. As senior leaders show that they can receive feedback graciously, their example can cascade down the leadership chain as their direct reports demonstrate openness to their own staff, and so on. The most coaching will be needed by those who are newest to managing the work of others and to those who are giving and receiving feedback from their peers.

  Balanced

  When critical feedback is given without positive feedback, especially when it is potentially coming from any and all directions, it is not likely to motivate employees effectively. Positive feedback needs to remain part of the mix and be shared regularly. Providing positive feedback will go a long way toward making constructive feedback more palatable, especially when sharing feedback laterally. Providing balance is qualitatively different from the sandwich method described in Chapter 5. Rather than slipping the critical feedback in between two positive comments, balance is achieved when positive and constructive feedback are both shared periodically, but not necessarily in the same setting. If a colleague only shares when there is something critical to say, it will be frustrating and demoralizing to hear their feedback. Like a high-performing sports team, there must be regular “atta-boy” and “atta-girl” exchanges to reinforce good work across the organization and the sense of appreciation that is carried in those positive sentiments.

  Growth Oriented

  Without a philosophy that supports growth and development, it will be difficult for your organization to maintain a culture of continuous improvement. Researcher Carol Dweck distinguishes between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset and has spent her career understanding the difference between the two.28 When people believe their basic qualities and abilities can be developed or improved through effort and dedication they have what Dweck refers to as a growth mindset. On the other hand, if they believe their basic qualities and abilities like their intelligence or talent are fixed traits (i.e., difficult or impossible to change), they have a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset often believe that talent alone creates success (without effort). They spend their time proving their skills and intelligence instead of developing them.

  In order to develop a growth mindset in your organization, you will need a balance of constructive feedback and positive feedback as described above. But not just any praise will do in devel
oping a growth mindset. In one of their studies, Dweck and her colleagues investigated the impact that praise had on children’s development. Four hundred fifth grade students from across the United States were given an assessment to measure their general intelligence, or IQ. At the end of the test, all the children were given praise, but they were praised in two different ways. The first group was praised for their intelligence and those students were specifically told they were smart. Students in the second group were praised for their effort and for how hard they worked on the test. This may seem like a subtle difference but the impact it had was anything but subtle.

  Next, the children were given options with regard to the test they would like to take next. The first option was described as a little harder and an opportunity to learn and grow. The second option was described as a fairly easy test that they would very likely do well on. Here’s where the research gets interesting. Of the group that was praised for their intelligence, two thirds chose the easy test as their next test. Meanwhile, 92 percent of the children who were praised for their effort chose the more difficult test. The subtle difference in how they were praised made all the difference in the degree of challenge they were willing to take on next.

  As Dweck explains, the person who is praised for their intelligence assumes that they are valued for their intelligence and that they had better not perform in a way that will negate that evaluation. As a result, they play it safe, wanting to live up the expectations others have of them and they enter a fixed mindset. In so doing, they limit their personal and professional growth. Alternatively, by focusing on how much effort a person puts forth, commenting on the strategies the person used, and the way they are rising to the challenge of more complex tasks, the emphasis is on the process of growth. As a result, people are more willing to take risks and work hard because they are oriented toward growth and want to continue to grow.